RACER Trust Working with Yankee Air Museum On Deal for Portion of Willow Run Powertrain Property

YPSILANTI, MI — The RACER Trust is pleased that Yankee Air Museum is working to acquire a portion of the former Willow Run Powertrain operation that was used to produce B-24 bombers during World War II, and to convert the area to a permanent exhibit space for its planes and other historic aviation memorabilia. Yankee Air Museum has presented a compelling vision, endorsed by Ypsilanti Township, and we wish the museum’s leadership, staff and volunteers success in this ambitious endeavor.

Yankee Air Museum has agreed that it will secure the funds needed to purchase and separate about a 175,000-square-foot section of the original bomber plant at the southeast corner of the Willow Run property by August 1, 2013. RACER will not require Yankee Air Museum to execute a binding purchase agreement until it secures the funding to achieve its goal.

In the meantime, the RACER Trust is continuing to pursue prospective buyers for the rest of the Willow Run property, ideally a modern manufacturing end user. Our goal is to do what the community has asked us to do — to attract new jobs and economic activity as soon as possible. We have actively marketed the former GM property for sale and redevelopment since taking title to it in March 2011. Thus far, market demand for the property with the existing buildings intact has been unsatisfactory.

The Willow Run location has outstanding assets: Its proximity to an international border crossing with America’s biggest trading partner; air, water, highway and rail transport infrastructure; industrial-grade utilities; proximity to one of the world’s foremost research universities; the world’s largest concentration of automotive engineers; and an eager, trained and available workforce. However, the existing structures, designed specifically for the needs of GM, present major obstacles to redevelopment — primarily the prohibitive cost of both of renovating and maintaining facilities totaling nearly 5 million square feet.

RACER has consulted closely with Ypsilanti Township officials as well as regional, state and national business and economic development leaders in recent months. We have concluded that dismantling the buildings at Willow Run would open up about 300 acres of prime industrial land for redevelopment, presenting the most attractive prospect for long-term economic benefits for the community and the region. The property is configured such that the hangar area the Yankee Air Museum seeks to redevelop can be preserved independently.

We concur with Ypsilanti Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo’s publicly stated view that allowing Willow Run to stand as an empty shell with little prospect for job creation as configured is unacceptable. Willow Run has a proud history as a hub of economic activity in Ypsilanti Township and Southeast Michigan. We thank Ypsilanti Township, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Ann Arbor SPARK, Wayne County EDGE, the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Wayne County Airport Authority, among others, for their partnership and support as we work toward a robust future for the site.